So long, farewell
It’s been marvellous but I reckon that will do. Thanks as always to the brains trust – Chris Knaus, Paul Karp, Gareth Hutchens and let us all clap our hands to celebrate Mike Bowers.
Let’s take stock of Wednesday.
-
Malcolm Turnbull spoke to Donald Trump about North Korea.
- Much was said about energy policy. Sadly, not much of it was all that sensible, but then won’t surprise anyone I suspect.
- The government wants to extend the life of the Liddell power station, AGL seems not at all interested in extending the life of Liddell, if Liddell ends up on the sale block, Delta Electricity might be a starter. And between those facts, politics was laid on like thick, rapid-set cement.
- Labor wants Barnaby Joyce to step aside until his case is heard by the high court. Joyce won’t step aside. Labor says Joyce is already fighting a byelection even though he’s still in the parliament. Joyce may or not be fighting a byelection but he’s signalled he wants to fight the environment movement, at least the section of it with tax deductibility status, because coal development keeps the lights on and money in wallets.
- The economy grew a bit more than expected but wages remain weak, which is what voters tend to notice.
- The high court listened to arguments for and against the same-sex marriage postal survey and will deliver its verdict at 2.15pm tomorrow afternoon, just as question time is winding up.
What a time to be alive. Sleep soundly. I’ll see you tomorrow.
Updated
Australia must immediately ban the type of flammable cladding linked to the Grenfell disaster in London and Lacrosse fire in Melbourne, an inquiry has recommended.
The use of polyethylene composite panels has been under intense scrutiny in Australia following the Grenfell disaster in London, which killed at least 80 people in June.
The fire gave new urgency to an existing Senate inquiry into unsafe building materials, which was first initiated after the Lacrosse fire in Melbourne in late 2014.
The Senate inquiry’s interim report was tabled on Wednesday afternoon.
It recommended the federal government implement “a total ban” on the importation, sale and use of the polyethylene panels “as a matter of urgency”.
In tabling the report, the Labor senator and committee chair, Chris Ketter, said the dangers of cladding cannot be ignored.
“The issue is a very sobering one. We can debate many issues in this chamber, some more trivial than others,” Ketter said. “But this report goes directly to the safety of the Australian people.”
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Lovely picture from Mike Bowers – capturing a quick chamber chat between Labor’s Linda Burney and the prime minister.
I gather it was a quick conversation about a friend of Burney’s currently in the Turnbull wing of a Sydney hospital.
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Tony Abbott has done his regular spot on 2GB with Ben Fordham. The former prime minister says we don’t need renewable energy targets, or clean energy targets, we need a 100% reliable energy target.
I’m really not at all sure what that means, given I don’t think energy provision is ever 100% reliable, but let’s plough on.
Rather like Labor’s message today, Abbott says energy policy has to have a proper objective.
He contends there has been government failure stemming back to the Howard era, with successive governments being focused on reducing emissions rather than on energy security.
Just by the by: Abbott seems very focused in the interview about the importance of keeping the lifts moving. He says lifts have to keep moving and he says it more than once. Perhaps he’s focused on having to run to a division.
Abbott also does a bit of front running on same-sex marriage. Abbott says if the high court throws out the postal plebiscite in its judgment tomorrow, then the government needs to bring back its original compulsory plebiscite proposal back to the Senate, not allow a free vote.
I strongly suspect that’s what will happen in the first instance in the event the court causes grief, so nice to put yourself on the probability spot.
He’s also asked about banning the burqa. Abbott can’t quite bring himself to go full Hanson but he creeps, furtively, in that direction. He thinks perhaps we need to consider banning the burqa in public “places upholding Australian values”.
Like courts.
I thought courts upheld the law but maybe I’m just being too literal. It’s an occupational hazard.
Updated
The shadow attorney general, Mark Dreyfus, has compiled a list of the number of times governments have released advice from the solicitor general since 1984. This somewhat arcane-sounding exercise relates to the issue Labor has been pushing all week: the legitimacy of Barnaby Joyce remaining in the cabinet and in the parliament.
Labor has been asking the government to release the legal advice which has provided the confidence that Joyce is fine to remain where he is. The prime minister has said in response, don’t be silly, governments don’t release private legal advice.
If we were fact-checking this statement, we’d have to correct the prime minister to say governments don’t release private legal advice very often.
According to Dreyfus, here’s the times legal advice has been released under the Hawke, Keating, Howard, Rudd and Gillard governments.
- In 2016, the Turnbull government released the solicitor general’s advice on the eligibility under section 44 of Rodney Culleton.
- In 2011, the Gillard government released two opinions of the solicitor general on the impact of the high court’s ruling on the Malaysia solution.
- In 2010, the Gillard government released the solicitor general’s advice on the Speaker’s position in the House of Representatives following the return of the hung parliament.
- In 2009, the Rudd government released legal advice of the solicitor general as an annexure to the National Human Rights Consultation Report.
- In 2000, the Howard government released the solicitor general’s advice about amendments to the Ministers of State Act and remuneration of parliamentary secretaries.
- In 1999, prime minister Howard tabled in parliament the advice of the solicitor general on the application of section 44 to Warren Entsch, to respond to assertions that he was disqualified.
- In 1995, the Keating government released the solicitor general’s advice on payment of legal expenses of members of parliament.
- In 1991, the Hawke government released the solicitor general’s advice on judges’ tax.
- In 1984, the Hawke government released the solicitor general’s advice on the extent of the parliament’s constitutional power to remove high court justice Lionel Murphy.
Updated
I know a number of readers have been moving back and forth between our live coverage of the high court hearing on the same-sex marriage postal plebiscite and Politics Live – so if you already know this, apologies ...
We will get a decision from the high court on the legality of the postal ballot at 2.15pm tomorrow.
Set your alarm clocks. Good of the court to punt that one into question time.
Updated
'We will have to take these people on' – Joyce on environmental groups with tax-deductible gift recipient status
I also need to track back to a speech the deputy prime minister Barnaby Joyce made early this morning at the Minerals Council of Australia knees-up.
The speech is a typical Joyce outing – it winds and twists and digresses – but there are some interesting chunks.
There were fighting words against environmental groups with tax-deductibility status campaigning against projects like Adani. As you read on it’s good to bear in mind the mining industry also wants to curb their behaviour.
Barnaby Joyce:
We will just have to take people head on. Those people collecting the tax deductibility to fight us, take them head on, and start selling back to the Australian people the economic message “this is how you are actually going to survive, this is how you are going to win as a nation”.
If you like hospitals that are payed for out of the public purse, if you like schools that are paid for out of the public purse, if you like to be defended as a nation paid for out of the public purse, if you like the roads and the freeways and the tunnels paid for out of the public purse, if you like to go to the Opera House and see all of the cultural events, a lot of them subsidised by the public purse then you’ve got to have an economy that creates a public purse.
You’ve got to have somebody somewhere making a buck. Simple as that.
Now speaking of people who make a buck ...
Barnaby Joyce:
Who is our biggest individual taxpayer in Australia? Gina Rinehart. Oh that ‘terrible, terrible’ woman, Gina Rinehart, oh shocking. All that tax she’s paying, someone should stop her.
They could, all she has to do is move to Singapore, and it stops then. And then Singapore gets the money. And what about the tax that BHP, that Rio’s paid? These ‘terrible’ people paying all this tax, supporting all the infrastructure in our nation.
Sometimes they try and inspire a guilt complex for something but overwhelmingly the sustenance of our nation is determined by our primary exports, by our mineral exports. We’ve got to push back, we’ve got to sell that message.
Now speaking of pushing back, the Adani project ... and the mining industry versus environmentalists, who I think become crocodiles by the end.
Barnaby Joyce:
Galilee Basin, we’re in the fight of our lives trying to open up a mechanism to provide wealth for this nation, this is total insanity. What is the next precinct? And when you say to these people, ‘OK if you don’t want that wealth what is your alternative?
‘What do you wish to put on the table? Where does this fantasia come from? Where is the wealth? If you don’t like coal, you don’t like iron ore or you don’t like the live cattle trade or you think that the sheep industry is “evil”.’ And I’ve seen this before because at the start we were involved with it a little bit with the timber industry.
I watched them close it down, I watched them close it down. So don’t think they can’t, they can. And they’ll pick you off one by one. The biggest mistake you make is you think you’re the fastest runner in the crocodile pen, you’re not, the crocodile will get you, and it’s just which one?
Updated
Let’s start our catch-up with the media reform package.
If you’ve been riding along with the live coverage all this week, you’ll know that the government’s package appeared, then disappeared, as the back and forth between various protagonists stalled.
It looks like the process is moving again. The key crossbench player, the Nick Xenophon Team, are now back at the table with the government.
Nick Xenophon:
The government put a proposal to us earlier today and we look forward to discussing that with them later today. I understand the opportunity here to strengthen large and small media companies in Australia – and the role of journalists in our democracy – and I will do my very best to make sure that opportunity is not lost.
(The sticking point has been the tax treatment of small independent publishers).
Updated
Question time is now behind us. Give me a few minutes and I’ll come back with the various things that have fallen through the cracks while I’ve been watching the chambers.
Updated
That suspension sequence in pictures.
I move ...
Oh, come on.
Updated
It was like being flogged with a wet lettuce
Malcolm Turnbull is blasting away at Labor on energy and on its lack of commitment to blue-collar workers. He says it’s time to focus on issues which matter.
Malcolm Turnbull:
We should be focused today on energy policy, as we have been throughout this question time and what we’ve had from the opposition instead is these big threats of creating chaos and mayhem in the parliament.
An absolutely swingeing question time strategy. We felt battered by it over here. It was like being flogged with a wet lettuce.
For years the Labor party has failed Australians on energy and now when we see the result, when the facts are laid out by Aemo, the Labor party is not even prepared to discuss it.
Those are the issues we should be discussing. That’s why this motion should be rejected. We have urgent matters of energy security to deal with in this House. That’s what we should be addressing today.
The jobs, the businesses, the households of Australia.
Updated
No coal Joel
Down in the House, the prime minister is participating in the debate about the suspension of the standing orders.
Malcolm Turnbull rounds on Labor’s Joel Fitzgibbon, who contributed last in debate. Fitzgibbon represents the Hunter region in NSW, a coalmining region.
Malcolm Turnbull:
He has abandoned the workers at Tomago! Why he has abandoned the workers who elected him? Why this old boy of Cessnock high school, whose magazine is called the Black Diamond, suddenly become no coal Joel?
Updated
Meanwhile, in the red place
Oh dear. It’s only Wednesday and the attorney general, George Brandis, has already lost his voice. Brandis was oh-so-close to making it through question time without drawing it to attention. But he’s forced to get to his feet in the last moments, offering a raspy, barely audible request that “further questions be placed on the notice paper”.
It draws a rather charitable response from the other side. Labor’s leader in the Senate, Penny Wong, says: “I hope the attorney gets better. I did promise him we wouldn’t ask him a question today because he was ill and we honoured our promise.”
But the game is ruined by the Senate president, Stephen Parry, who asks Brandis to respond to a question on notice about disaster relief payments, which was asked yesterday. “Senator Brandis, are you going to attempt again?” Parry asks.
Wong cries: “Oh come on that’s not fair!”
Brandis makes a noble attempt to get through two short sentences to table the answer. Those opposite are impressed.
Doug Cameron: “Can I just congratulate senator Brandis for that valiant effort, well done.”
The ceasefire is short-lived. A few moments later, Cameron is calling the government an incompetent “rabble” on energy policy.
Updated
Burke says the government is risking a lot by allowing Barnaby Joyce to remain where he is.
He suggests that the government dropped its collective bundle when it became known that Joyce was a dual citizen of New Zealand.
Tony Burke:
If you date back to the moment the deputy prime minister first stood there and told us about his New Zealand citizenship, since that moment the government’s become increasingly whacky.
Since that moment, this government has lurched from one conspiracy theory to the next.
I don’t know what was unleashed in the minds of those opposite from the moment we heard about the New Zealand citizenship of the deputy prime minister but from that moment we heard about the New Zealand conspiracy, the Cuban conspiracy, East Germany. The Berlin Wall. We heard from socialism and communism and Stalinism and the secret agent leader of the opposition conspiracy.
Those opposite have gone into the most ridiculous spiral of self-satire since the moment that the deputy prime minister let it be known that he was a citizen of another country.
Updated
Tony Burke says the government needs to produce the legal advice it is relying on to say Joyce is eligible to remain in the parliament.
It is not simply the prime minister’s reputation which hangs on the strength of that advice. The entire legitimacy of this government hangs on the strength of that advice.
This is a government that claims to have a majority of one and has become the first government in the history of Australia that has gone to the high court to ask whether or not it is true that they in fact have a lawful majority. First time that has ever happened in the history of our country.
Why do they think is not a problem?
Labor calls on Barnaby Joyce to stand aside
Labor’s Tony Burke:
The House calls on the deputy prime minister to stand aside from cabinet until doubts about his constitutional and qualifications have been resolved.
Even the prime minister wasn’t listening to a word of that answer.
Even the prime minister was turning his back on the deputy prime minister. When you are in a situation where you are off campaigning in your electorate, where you are campaigning in the byelection, when the prime minister himself is turning his back on you when you are giving an answer, it is time to acknowledge it is time to go. Time to stand aside.
It is time for this deputy to realise it is no small matter when the constitution says you probably shouldn’t be here.
Updated
Enough's enough, dudes: Smith
After the vote has been taken, the House Speaker, Tony Smith, makes a brief statement from the chair. He says Labor has shut down Barnaby Joyce each time he’s been up this week. Smith says enough’s enough. He says question time is designed for “openness and accountability”. He says shutting down Joyce is inconsistent with the fundamental purpose of question time. He says it’s an obstruction of the House.
Tony Smith:
I am ruling now I will not be accepting any further motions this week.
Joyce jumps back up and continues his answer. When he concludes, Labor moves to suspend the standing orders.
Updated
And via the Twitters, this beauty.
Deputy PM Barnaby reacts when Albo suggests he is already campaigning for a snap by-election @murpharoo @GuardianAus pic.twitter.com/xNHRKruPIr
— Mikearoo (@mpbowers) September 6, 2017
Updated
A Dorothy Dixer now to the man of the hour, Barnaby Joyce. He gets no more than two words out before Labor moves the gag motion.
Tony Burke:
I move that the member be no longer heard.
Lock the doors. Ring the bells.
Time to hit the yoga mat if you need a stretch. We’ll be a few minutes here. While you indulge in a restorative up dog, I see what Mr Bowers has sent us.
Labor’s Tony Burke:
Q: Yesterday, the prime minister claimed the government had only referred the deputy prime minister “to give the high court the opportunity to clarify the law”. Given at that stage the high court had already been given the opportunity to clarify the law with Senator Canavan’s referral, why was it necessary to also refer the deputy prime minister? Isn’t it the case that the solicitor general’s advice is not as strong as the government is claiming?
Malcolm Turnbull says he would have preferred a question on energy policy. After a protest by Burke, Turnbull is instructed by the Speaker, Tony Smith, to answer the question he was asked. The prime minister refers to previous answers he’s given on similar questions.
Updated
In the other place, the Greens have been on the attack over energy and the Liddell plant. The Greens leader, Richard Di Natale, asks: “Given that Malcolm Turnbull’s energy plan now consists than nothing more than extending the life of a polluting power plant, when even its owners want to shut it down, why isn’t this just another colossal failure in the planning of our energy system?”
The education minister, Simon Birmingham, dismisses the criticisms. He says “Di Natale has not had time yet to look at the Aemo review”, which discusses the likelihood of a supply shortfall if Liddell is closed in 2022.
“This government’s not going to make any apologies for engaging directly with the owners of Liddell, for engaging to make sure that, if it as all possible and viable, that plant continues its operation beyond the 2022 close date,” Birmingham said.
Updated
A Dorothy Dixer to the energy minister, Josh Frydenberg, who says Bill Shorten wants to close down Australia’s coal-fired power stations.
Josh Frydenberg:
It is in your election platform.
Updated
Updated
A Dorothy Dixer allows the defence industry minister, Christopher Pyne, to speak about Australia’s defence “heft”.
Updated
Labor’s Anthony Albanese is back on the snap byelection in new England. A government MP shouts, “You are a bit rusty, Albo.”
Albanese is unperturbed. He wants to know why Barnaby Joyce issued the media release updating on process with the New England highway upgrade, rather than the transport minister.
Darren Chester:
There are so many projects around Australia, I couldn’t possibly get out to announce every one of them. I needed to rely on my good friend, the leader of the Nationals and deputy prime minister, to make the announcement in his electorate.
Albanese has a point of order.
The question went to why nothing for four years and then ...
The House Speaker, Tony Smith, sits him down.
Chester quips that Albanese likes to say that he built everything when he was Labor’s transport minister in the previous Labor government.
Albanese would like to table the Joyce media release, which he says is not on the departmental website (which is the usual practice).
Leave is not granted.
Updated
Meanwhile, over in the other place, it’s Groundhog Day in the Senate.
The regional development minister, Fiona Nash, is again in the crosshairs over her dual citizenship woes. Nash has been counting.
“This is the ninth question since Monday morning on an issue that is not a priority for the Australian people,” Nash observes.
The finance minister, Mathias Cormann, is given a Dixer on the economy to lighten the mood. He uses it to offer a well-worn theory about Labor.
“They’re only interested in going back to the failed socialist agenda of the past,” Cormann says.
Updated
Anthony Albanese returns to infrastructure in New England, which he says was actually funded by the previous Labor government.
Darren Chester says you might have funded it but you didn’t build it – that’s us.
Darren Chester:
I don’t believe New England has ever had a better representative in this place than the leader of the National party and deputy prime minister.
Updated
A Dorothy Dixer allowing the treasurer, Scott Morrison, to note that the economics of opportunity triumphs “over the politics of envy, which is driven by the Labor party on that side of the House”.
Updated
Labor’s Anthony Albanese is back with a question about Barnaby Joyce’s de-facto byelection campaign in New England. Albanese wants to know why tenders for an upgrade on a section of the New England highway went out last week?
Q: Why has the government only acted now when the project was fully funded more than four years ago? Is it because the government and the deputy prime minister are preparing for a snap byelection in New England?
The question is to Darren Chester, the transport minister.
Darren Chester:
I thank the member for Grayndler for his audition for the leadership of the Labor party. At least the member for Grayndler is talking about an issue that people care about in regional Australia, issues that people care about – being investment in land transport infrastructure.
Just in case this question is mysterious to you, Joyce is before the high court because of his New Zealand citizenship. If the court knocks him out, there will be a byelection in New England.
Updated
Travel advice updated for Korea and Japan
Labor asks a confused question about the constitution and Barnaby Joyce already campaigning for re-election in New England – which Turnbull shrugs off.
The government is back on North Korea. The foreign affairs minister, Julie Bishop, says the government’s travel advice has been updated for Korea and Japan.
This morning, the official travel advice on our smart traveller web site for Japan and the Republic of Korea was updated, specifically in relation to Korea, noting further provocations by the DPRK or reactions by other countries cannot be ruled out, and that tensions on the Korean peninsula could escalate with little warning. Our official advice for the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, the DPRK, is that Australians should reconsider their need to travel to the DPRK.
I would urge Australians not to travel to North Korea. We have no consular presence there. We have little capacity to assist should any Australians get into trouble.
I can inform the House that our embassies in Seoul and Tokyo have comprehensive contingency plans in place should there be any crisis or conflict situation or any consular scenario eventuate.
I can confirm we have plans in place with our partners and allies should any contingency arise.
Updated
We have America's back, America has Australia's back
The first Dorothy Dixer allows Malcolm Turnbull to report his phone call with Donald Trump.
There is no greater risk to the security of our region than the threat posed by North Korea today. I can inform the House that I discussed the North Korean threat and other security issues with President Trump this morning.
The risk of war on the Korean peninsula is, as we noted, greater than it has been for 60 years. Conflict on the peninsula would be catastrophic.
President Trump and I agreed that now is the time to exert the maximum diplomatic and, above all, economic pressure on North Korea to bring this reckless and dangerous regime to its senses.
The North Korean regime is threatening the peace of the region in a manner that will – that runs the risk of disturbing the world order, putting thousands and millions of lives at risk. It is the most dangerous, immediate threat to the stability of our region. We need more concerted effort by the global community.
Turnbull speaks of conversations he’s had with other leaders in recent days and how they are designed to assert maximum diplomatic pressure on China.
Above all, President Trump and I confirmed and affirmed the alliance between our two nations – the bedrock of our security, of our national security.
We have America’s back, America has Australia’s back.
We are united.
Updated
Question time
Labor returns to the theme of the political week with the opening question of the session. The Labor leader Bill Shorten wants to know why Barnaby Joyce is on the frontbench when Matt Canavan resigned from cabinet 43 days ago.
Malcolm Turnbull:
Thank you, Mr Speaker. The honourable member’s question has a distinctly familiar ring to it. I refer him to my earlier answers.
Updated
If you need to go for a quick sprint to refresh your faculties, now would be the time. Question time is just over the horizon.
Labor’s Mark Butler has followed Trevor St Baker into the Sky News studio. Butler is asked will Labor deliver the bipartisanship the coal boss is seeing. Butler says he doesn’t intend to respond to an “hour by hour set of propositions”.
Butler says he believes Australia needs a bipartisan energy policy. Once the prime minister gets a sign off from his party room, Labor is happy to talk.
Mark Butler:
Once there’s a plan, let’s talk about a plan.
He says Labor is not in the business of giving workers in the Hunter Valley false hope on a “thought bubble” from the prime minister. If there’s an orderly plan in place, then sure.
There needs to be a long-term, stable, bipartisan plan.
Updated
Meanwhile, a pope who travels with his own microphone. Massive props. The pope of the Coptic Orthodox Church is cruising the corridors.
We don't need subsidies, we need bipartisanship, says Delta
Following Chris Knaus’ story about Delta being interested in Liddell, Sky News has chased down Trevor St Baker for an interview. He says his company is interested in “expanding our portfolio of base load power”.
The coal boss is asked what the government would need to do to make the purchase attractive. St Baker says subsidies aren’t the issue. He says bipartisanship is the issue.
He says companies need a “bipartisan demonstration” to the people of Australia that coal is important in the system. He says Australia doesn’t have nuclear, there’s not enough rain for hydro base load – coal is it. He says bipartisanship means banks will give energy companies money to make new investments if there is an adequate margin of base load power.
St Baker says Delta is interested in Liddell, but bipartisanship is required. We need both sides of politics to sign off on an investment regime, he says. He says the energy sector needs “even handed finance”.
On Sky News, the former resources minister Matt Canavan, says we might end up seeing a situation where the federal government part owns Liddell with a private interest.
I think that’s something you’ve got to look at.
Down at the National Press Club, my colleague Paul Karp has just asked Tiernan Brady, executive director of the equality campaign, whether they are winning the fight to legalise same sex marriage.
Tiernan Brady:
There is huge energy built up, huge determination, it grows and grows. The one thing that’s very clear over the last 12 months, and the world of politics understands this now, is this issue isn’t going anywhere, it won’t go away.
There is a simple reason for that. It is not a simple question of politics. It is not merely an issue. It is not like will we raise taxes or build a motorway here? This is about people’s dignity.
It is a discussion about real people we know. The determination will only continue to grow. If the court case is successful, I would imagine that momentum, that energy, is going to refocus back to the next place where the decision needs to be made anyway which is parliament. The clear message: Get it done.
The Australian people have made their mind up on this issue and it’s time.
Politics, this Wednesday lunchtime
Let’s slam on the brakes and take stock.
Today, Wednesday:
-
Malcolm Turnbull and Donald Trump have spoken for half an hour about the deeply terrifying tensions on the Korean peninsula. The prime minister says the call was warm. We’ll keep our eyes on the Washington Post for any counter intelligence.
- Energy is thrashing about like a bull at a gate. Well not really. Just a few moving parts. The government will meet with the AGL chief, Andy Vesey, next Monday, to discuss keeping the Liddell power station open beyond 2022. Turnbull says AGL is prepared to sell to a responsible operator. AGL says the company has made no commitment to sell the Liddell power station nor to extend its life beyond 2022. Meanwhile, interested parties are starting to gather in a huddle on the hillside, wondering what might be going to happen, and how taxpayers might help make things happen, given we have clearly entered a phase where taxpayers are going to make things happen. Yipee!
- New national accounts figures show the economy grew by 0.8% in the June quarter, more than double the pace of 0.3% in the March quarter. The annual growth figure is 1.8%. The treasurer thinks there are better days ahead, but wages growth remains challenging.
- The high court has entered a second day of hearings on the challenge to the postal survey on marriage equality. Many Canberra eyes are trained secretly on Melbourne.
And so we go.
Who says politicians can’t get along? Prostates are unifying things.
Don’t worry. I’ll be moving us all past that insight shortly with a lunchtime summary.
Updated
Origin a non-starter
Still on the hunt for a potential buyer for Liddell. Origin Energy has declared it is not interested in purchasing the Liddell power station. A spokeswoman has confirmed Origin had no interest in buying the ageing power plant.
The company only currently has one coal-fired power station, the Eraring power station, which is slated for closure within the decade. “Origin has already announced plans to close our only coal fired power station, Eraring, by early 2030s and is not looking to buy any new coal plant,” the spokeswoman said.
Updated
Down the road at the National Press Club, representatives of the “yes” case are laying out the arguments in favour of marriage equality. I’ll try and look in there at some point over the next hour or so.
Tiernan Brady, Exec Director, The Equality Campaign & Janine Middleton, CEO Pinnacle Foundation, on 'Same Sex Marriage - The Yes Case' #ABC pic.twitter.com/tf5FIubZMG
— National Press Club (@PressClubAust) September 6, 2017
Updated
It will be interesting to see who else appears on the Liddell horizon today – but just a quick statement of the obvious.
A buyer requires a seller. Just a simple point, but one worth making. I said this morning that I can’t quite grasp why AGL would want to sell a coal asset to a competitor (who might get some handy support from the taxpayer to refurbish the plant) when that would mean competition for its renewables generation business. Knowledgable people in energy circles think a refurbishment of Liddell could cost anything between $500m and $1bn. If the taxpayer picks up the tab for that, then the plant could go on generating cheaper coal fired power in competition with the power produced by AGL.
But when fights break out on Mount Olympus, it’s generally best to hang back a bit and wait for the dust to settle.
Could we have a buyer?
As Murph was saying, we’ve been sniffing down the potential buyer trail this morning.
Delta Electricity, a company headed by coal barons Trevor St Baker and Brian Flannery, has expressed an early interest in purchasing the Liddell power station.
But Delta’s company secretary, Steve Gurney, says currently unclear whether the purchase is viable without “some sort of cash injection”.
“Would we be interested? I think our position is: ‘Yeah we’d have a look at it,’ but that’s as far as we would go at the moment,” Gurney said. “It’s very, very early days. We’re looking at other things as well, so it might be at the end of the day that our money is better put into other projects we’re working on.”
St Baker and Flannery have previously bought struggling coal stations for low prices, in an attempt to turn them around. In 2015, the pair bought Vales Point, one of New South Wales’s largest coal-fired power stations, for the sum of $1m.
Gurney said Delta had been in conversations with the federal government but those discussions were more general in nature, concerning long-term energy supply in Australia. He could not categorically say whether or not Liddell had been discussed.
Updated
While the treasurer has been talking, Laura Tingle at the Financial Review thinks a buyer for the Liddell power station will show their hand today. We’ve also been sniffing along this trail this morning.
Sweat the assets
Scott Morrison is asked whether the budget can afford a new coal-fired power plant. The treasurer says the prime minister and the energy minister are exactly on the right path. He says the government is focussed on sweating the existing assets for longer in order the achieve stability in the grid. Sweating the assets for longer “buys time” he says, for other technologies to develop the stability and dispatchable capacity in the national electricity market.
Updated
We are seeing more and more evidence of how things are improving.
Updated
At his press conference, Scott Morrison is pushed on sluggish wages growth. The treasurer says all the economic indicators are moving in the right direction, and when everything moves in the right direction, then that flows through to wages growth.
After listing all the various green shoots in the economy, Scott Morrison says wages growth remains the key challenge, and company profits have been weak. “We need to see a sustained improvement in profitability”.
The treasurer Scott Morrison is speaking to reporters now about the new GDP figures.
Scott Morrison:
Today’s national accounts for the June quarter reveal solid and more balanced growth for our economy. Real growth in our economy grew by 0.8% in the June quarter – more than double the pace of the 0.3% figure we saw in March.
Better days ahead?
Hello everyone. As Murph flagged earlier, the latest GDP figures are out today. They show Australia’s economy is growing at an annual rate of 1.8%, in seasonally adjusted terms, and by 2.1%, in trend terms.
They are positive figures, showing growth is going in the direction economists would like.
Philip Lowe, the Reserve Bank governor, told the RBA board on Tuesday evening there had been “positive developments” in the economy recently, and he predicted growth would keep picking up from here.
“Encouragingly, growth in the number of Australians with jobs has picked up over recent months and the unemployment rate has come down a bit,” Lowe told the RBA board.
“The investment outlook has also brightened. Inflation has troughed and it is likely to increase gradually over the next couple of years.
“These are positive developments.”
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As the prime minister exited the meeting with Clinton Pryor, this woman asked whether Indigenous people could get a new minister.
Unfortunately, as you can see from this picture, the Indigenous affairs minister, Nigel Scullion, was standing just behind.
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#Awks
Quick jump back in time. Just before that press conference which I have just covered, the prime minister met with Clinton Pryor. If folks were with us yesterday, you’ll know Pryor has walked across the country to meet with parliamentarians.
Pryor (and his entourage) met Bill Shorten yesterday. That got a bit lively. Today, Pryor (and his entourage) met Turnbull (and his entourage). That was also pretty lively.
My eyes at the meeting (minus entourage) tell me the prime minister was initially chided for not meeting Pryor at the Aboriginal tent embassy at old parliament house.
The new parliament is apparently located on an ancient burial ground, and Roxley Foley (travelling with Pryor) said they were reluctant to meet there.
Pryor and his group read out their list of demands. Turnbull questioned some of the demands – and defended the Indigenous leader Noel Pearson (who was attacked by the group as not representative of all Indigenous views).
An awkward conversation ensued (with the Turnbull entourage hovering and wondering out loud whether to extract him). In due course the prime minister took his leave, and offered a handshake.
Some heckling followed.
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As Turnbull and Frydenberg have wrapped up, the shadow climate minister Mark Butler is in the Mural Hall is talking about energy policy chaos.
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Q: Just back on energy, prime minister, a strategic reserve will not come cheap. Will the cost of it be borne by the consumers? Will it result in higher energy prices for families?
Josh Frydenberg takes the question.
Aemo has indicated the cost could be in the range of $50m so in the scheme of the national electricity market, that is a small amount to pay for the reliability of our system. This is an important recommendation from Aemo. There are many precedents throughout the world, including Belgium and Texas, for strategic reserves. It makes absolute sense here and it is consistent with the Finkel recommendation.
Q: Did the president give you any indication of what steps he might take against North Korea?
Malcolm Turnbull:
A lot of our conversation I can’t go into, as you know, it was a half-hour conversation, so I’ve just given you a few headlines, but it is the clear focus of the president and of my government, as well, and of, you know, the government of Japan – I spoke with prime minister Abe last week – I spoke with Indonesia’s president Widodo yesterday.
Everybody wants to get this dangerous situation resolved, bring this reckless, dangerous, provocative regime to its senses without conflict.
A conflict would be catastrophic – everyone understands that.
The best avenue to achieve that, that we can see, is continued enforcement of strong economic sanctions, and, of course, the country with the biggest lever in that regard is China.
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The Trump call
The prime minister is invited to reflect on his call this morning with the US president Donald Trump.
Malcolm Turnbull:
It was a very good call, very warm discussion, very constructive. Naturally we focused on the threat posed by North Korea. We are absolutely of the one mind in condemning this reckless conduct. We discussed the importance of the full enforcement of the current sanctions regime and the importance of additional sanctions which, of course, are under consideration at the moment, being imposed in the future.
While we both recognise that China is not responsible for North Korea’s conduct, as I have said many times, North Korea is not to China what East Germany was to the Soviet Union, nonetheless, China does have the greatest leverage by far and we will both continue to encourage China to bring more economic pressure to bear on North Korea to bring this regime to its senses.
After North Korea, matters closer to home.
Malcolm Turnbull:
We also discussed the important battle that is being waged against Isil around the world but in particular now in our region, in the Philippines. Of course, as you know, both Australia and the United States are providing assistance to the Philippines government in that struggle to clear that Isil insurgency out of Marawi.
And disaster relief.
Malcolm Turnbull:
We also, of course, discussed the recent terrible floods and hurricane damage in the United States and I extended to the president, as I have done previously, Australia’s sympathy and, of course, we reflected on our common experience in dealing with disasters, natural disasters, of this kind.
As you know, there is another hurricane currently bearing down on Florida which is also a massive storm system but we both have experience in dealing with that, and we agreed we should continue to compare our practices of building up resilience and mitigation and disaster.
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For the record, the prime minister is keeping the option of a new coal-fired power plant on the table. But he says the problem requires a more immediate response.
Malcolm Turnbull:
I would welcome an advanced high-efficiency, low-emission coal-fired power station built in Australia. I would. I think with a big coal exporter, it would be great, just from a marketing point of view if nothing else. I might say I have been saying that for nearly 10 years so I’m very consistent about it.
But the challenges we face are much nearer-term than that. You could not get a new 2,000 megawatt coal-fired power station built in five years – seven if you knew where you wanted to put it, even if you had all your planning approvals ready. You can see we have got to take action in the near-term, the medium-term, the long-term, and we are doing all of that.
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Q: The report is very clear in saying that building new coal-fired power plants was not an economically viable prospect. Can you now rule out your government offering any form of financial support ... ?
Malcolm Turnbull:
The old rule-in, rule-out question! You are better than that, James!
(Just for the record, none of us are better than that. Rule in rule out questions are the job, as the prime minister well knows).
Q: You have said that electricity companies are putting their profits first and want to keep the prices high so they can make more profit. Do you think it is irresponsible of AGL to be, in your view, threatening our energy stability and pushing power prices high just to deliver more profits?
Malcolm Turnbull:
Well, you have put lots of ... sought to put lots of words into my mouth there.
I make no observation other than to say that the principal beneficiaries of the recent ... well, the only beneficiaries, frankly, of the recent increases in electricity prices, have been the electricity companies.
Q: AGL considers Liddell to be a major liability worth multimillions of dollars. Who would make up the shortfall? Would the government help pay to dismantle it after any extended period of life?
Malcolm Turnbull:
Well, again, you are getting ... We are getting way ahead of ourselves here.
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First question is will the taxpayer fork out during any sale of Liddell. Tax breaks? Grants for refurbishment?
Turnbull says it’s too soon to say.
It is early days with Liddell.
Second question is why can’t the proposed clean energy target do the heavy lifting? The prime minister says the clean energy target can’t deliver what’s required by 2022. That’s only five years away. We need a more rapid response.
Third question is, is Liddell the only option – and why didn’t we see this intervention ahead of the Hazelwood closure? The prime minister says keeping Liddell open is one option. “No doubt there are others.” He says the government didn’t act with Hazelwood because Hazelwood was already in a state of disrepair.
The prime minister editorialises about the energy companies. His point is energy companies have different interests to governments.
Malcolm Turnbull:
Again, generators, electricity companies, obviously prefer electricity prices to be high. That’s when they make a lot of money.
Our perspective, our responsibility, is to the Australian people. Whether it’s mums and dads, families, whether it’s businesses, to ensure that electricity, and all energy, is affordable and reliable.
The prime minister makes his way in the direction of Liddell, and AGL’s disposition towards its power plant.
Malcolm Turnbull:
We have had several discussions with the chief executive of AGL, Andy Vesey, about the possibility of the Liddell power station continuing for a longer period, say up to five years, to provide more security to the system over that period.
AGL has said they want to get out, they want to close Liddell by 2022. They’ve said they want to get out of it but they have said they are prepared to discuss the sale of the power station to a responsible party.
That is what we will be discussing further with Andy when we see him next week.
Malcolm Turnbull addresses reporters
The prime minister and the energy minister Josh Frydenberg are in the blue room, having a media conference. Turnbull is opening on the Aemo report.
Malcolm Turnbull:
What you have seen is a colossal failure in the planning of our energy system.
This is a prime ministerial segue to bashing up Labor for its ideology and idiocy. Strangely he neglects to mention the Coalition’s repeal of the carbon price, which was, of course, a policy mechanism designed to drive an orderly transition in Australia’s energy market.
For those of us who have been around since the dawn of the carbon pricing debate in the mid 2000’s, old crones like me, the Aemo report was actually a public cry for help. Could we have some policy certainty. Please.
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And I’ve just got time to link you to our live coverage of today’s high court hearing on the marriage equality postal survey. Calla Wahlquist is touch typing, court side, as we speak.
got @murpharoo' and @callapilla's liveblogs set up side-by-side today pic.twitter.com/lpDZFeH7YW
— Tim.Peaks.S3E18[HD] (@timothy_newport) September 5, 2017
The prime minister will address reporters in about five minutes. You’ve just got time to put the kettle on.
Like the ghost of Christmas past, the former resources minister Matt Canavan, watching Barnaby Joyce speak this morning at the Minerals Council of Australia knees up.
Just a bit of decoding of that AGL statement, which was delivered to the Australian Stock Exchange.
The company has been put in the position over the last 12 hours or so where the prime minister has told the voters (and the financial markets) he’s in a private conversation with AGL about the sale of one of its assets.
Really quite extraordinary, that public intervention by the prime minister (which, if you remember) followed some tweets from the AGL boss Andy Vesey contradicting the government’s line on extending the life of the NSW power plant.
The company would have had no choice but to inform the markets, given what Turnbull told reporters in Canberra last night.
I think it’s pretty clear from the statement though that AGL does not want to sell this asset, or keep it open past 2022.
Perhaps this is all hard bargaining and ambit claim from AGL. Maybe they have a secret desire to sell. I’m not discounting the possibility this is all hard bargaining.
But I can think of a reason why they wouldn’t want to sell. If they sell the coal plant to another operator, the company would then face competition for their renewables power generation business. If the taxpayer chipped in to refurbish the plant before any sale, giving a good deal to another, new, private operator, this would be competition for AGL.
Right?
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Note to Canberra: we have made no commitment to sell
The energy company AGL is continuing to decline to be on message. With the prime minister out and about informing people he’s in a conversation with Andy Vesey about selling Liddell – Vesey is about drawing some clear lines.
The relevant line drawing is in bold.
The company has just issued the following statement:
AGL Energy (AGL) notes speculation in relation to a potential sale of the Liddell Power Station, or extension of the operating life of the power station, following comments made by the prime minister yesterday.
AGL has committed to the closure of the Liddell Power Station in 2022, which is the end of its operating life. AGL provided this advance notice in April 2015 to avoid the volatility created by the sudden exit from the National Electricity Market of other coal-fired power stations.
AGL recognises community and government concerns in relation to energy security, as highlighted in the Australian Energy Market Operator’s 2017 Electricity Statement of Opportunities published yesterday, and continues to assess the capacity that will be needed post 2022 to replace Liddell.
AGL will continue to engage with governments, regulators and other stakeholders to deliver appropriate outcomes but notes that the company has made no commitment to sell the Liddell Power Station nor to extend its life beyond 2022.
'You might think that by saying this I’m being a wally'
Stepping out of the slipstream of energy and North Korea briefly, into the realm of the mysterious. [Cue mysterious muzak]. The One Nation senator Brian Burston made a contribution at the adjournment last night which is probably characterised by his own terminology – cryptic.
Who is this [alleged, unnamed] citizen of convenience?
Brian Burston:
People take up political careers for many reasons. Some do it for reasons of service, for humanity; others do it for the headlines and yet others do it because up until then they’ve led a solitary existence. If not for noble reasons, they should be held in contempt. This might be a bit cryptic for some to understand. There’s going to be an explanatory follow-up a little later on. Some will get it; some will not. This speech is titled ‘citizen of convenience’ as it will highlight that some people, and a particular individual, are using the circumstances of the 45th parliament purely to further their own personal agenda and not the agenda of the people of Australia.
In light of the dual citizenship fiasco, there’s been one person at least who has attempted to manipulate the situation to be more about putting the spotlight on themselves than on resolving this debacle. In the public domain, they have claimed to be a UK citizen by descent, but they were born elsewhere—not Australia nor the UK. Have they renounced their UK citizenship or was their original claim just a lie? If we were to take their statements prior to them entering parliament at face value, they wouldn’t have a passport and wouldn’t be here—or were those statements lies too?
You might think that by saying this I’m being a wally. But hopefully my message will ring true and people’s damaged reputations will be legally restored. Certainly there will be a legal process that will decide the outcome of events over the next few years one way or the other. The haze will be removed.
The citizenship issue will be settled and there may be fewer people in this place or the other place – or just different people. Leaving here in disgrace can be short-circuited by leaving before you get exposed. You won’t need to go sniffing around the bins. You’ll no doubt be able to get some form of social security.
I don’t have to be pulling money to and from my accountant’s bank in the nick of time to avoid being caught out or put in financial straits, nor do I need to rip off charities.
I just dip into my own pocket when I want to put on the nose bag and enjoy a feast. I don’t rort the system, and I don’t encourage others to either. I’m not going to tar people with mendacious comments. That would not be ethical, nor would it be the honourable thing to do.
The honourable thing to do would be to jump before being pushed. The noose will be tightening around this person’s neck soon, and perhaps their head will be small enough to put on a slouch hat. Perhaps their next job will be selling chocolates for charity on The Footy Show.
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The early advice on the Trump call was it spanned thirty minutes, North Korea dominated, and the conversation was “warm”.
Defence minister: Australia seeking to avoid conflict on the peninsula 'at all costs'
We know the prime minister is talking to Donald Trump this morning. The defence minister, Marise Payne, is also heading off to the sixth Seoul defence dialogue to discuss the threat of North Korea. She has spoken to ABC’s AM this morning.
Asked about the United States’ warning that Kim Jong-un is “begging for war” and whether a miscalculation could lead to conflict, Payne replied: “To avoid the potential of such a problem, the emphasis must be on pursuing the effectiveness of the sanction regime, pursued through UN security council. A number of those sanctions are only now in the process of coming into effect … they need to be allowed to operate.”
Payne noted Malcolm Turnbull’s earlier statement that if there is conflict between the US and North Korea “Australia will be involved”. She said it was an important statement and Australia’s position on invoking the ANZUS is clear – but “at all costs, that is the outcome which we seek to avoid”.
Asked about her trip to the Philippines, Payne warns of returning foreign fighters and Isis affiliates gaining a foothold in southeast Asia but does not give any further details about Australia’s contribution. Earlier this week Turnbull dismissed reports that Australian special forces have been offered to help the Philippine government fight Islamic State-linked militants.
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Meanwhile, the Greens energy spokesman, Adam Bandt, has labelled the Aemo report a “pretty damning indictment of what the government has been doing for the last four years. It shows we haven’t built the new renewables needed because coal fired generators are going offline,” he said, warning of power shortfalls this summer and in 2022.
Bandt says energy and environment minister, Josh Frydenberg, is using the report to “run around and say we need more coal but that’s not what Aemo is saying”.
Adam Bandt:
What [Aemo] says, and the minister hasn’t been clear about this, is they don’t mind where this [extra electricity] comes from. One of the places it could come from ... [is] demand management - which is basically saying there are big operators ... if we could pay them to run their industries not at the hottest times of the day but perhaps shift into the middle of the night, that would be a way of dealing [with the shortfall].
Bandt said we should start with the most cost-effective solutions and both demand management and new renewables are cheaper than new coal-fired plants, which also contribute to climate change.
He lays blame for the energy shortfall squarely at the Coalition’s feet: “There’s a cost to the government waging war on renewables – we’re facing it now, we don’t have the electricity generation we need.”
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Making it up as you go along
Labor and the Greens have chimed in this morning on energy.
Labor’s climate spokesman, Mark Butler, has told reporters the new Aemo report “has laid bare four years of utter failure by Tony Abbott and Malcolm Turnbull on energy policy.”
Mark Butler:
[Aemo] describes in great detail the deepening crisis that has emerged under those two prime ministers. The second thing the report does is constitute a rejection of Malcolm Turnbull’s fantasy that a response to the country’s deepening crisis is to build new coal-fired power stations.
Malcolm Turnbull indicated that he was proposing to sell Liddell power station which is not his to sell at all.
The problem with this is that it appears that the prime minister is making this up as he goes along. There has been very clear notice about the closure of Liddell.
As well as energy, and Trump/North Korea – it’s flat out on many fronts.
- Today, we will have a second day of hearings in the high court challenge against the same sex marriage postal plebiscite.
- We expect new GDP figures from the ABS.
- The Minerals Council of Australia also has its big annual knees-up in the parliament, with speeches and contributions expected from many players.
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Good morning Mr President
To other things now. The prime minister is fielding a call from the US president Donald Trump at the moment about North Korea.
The PM heading into his phone call with @realDonaldTrump this morning. pic.twitter.com/7dY7DMv4lw
— The PMO (@thepmo) September 5, 2017
We expect a press conference a bit later.
So what does all that mean?
We’ll stay with energy throughout the day, but as I need to point you in the direction of several other things, just a quick summary of the state of play with the energy story as of now.
- Government commissions a report which says the grid needs more back up power, and if Liddell exits in 2022 we are in some short-term bother.
- Government then confirms it is in talks to prolong the life of Liddell.
- Owner of Liddell, AGL, says yeah, nah.
- Government then says AGL has signalled privately it’s happy to sell the plant.
- Government adds it would be great if someone buys it, but doesn’t rule out buying it itself (woo hoo).
- The former resources minister Matt Canavan has many feelings about AGL that could be categorised in some quarters as not entirely helpful.
- The current energy minister Josh Frydenberg says consumers will pick up the tab for the new stability in the system.
As they say in our business, more to come.
In the meantime, we regret to inform you that minister Frydenberg has been subject to an extreme weather event known as the Bowers Blackout.
We are firing up our back-up generator as we speak.
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Who pays? Well, you pay
Frydenberg confirms that the cost of the extra stability in the system will be passed through to consumers.
Q: Just to stay with price for a moment because the government is all on about trying to get our power prices down at the moment. Aemo says there’s a need to set all strategic reserve by summer, which means, as we mentioned there, bringing online some diesel-operating plants and starting up some gas-fired power plants, that the extra cost of that could be up to $50m a year. How will that be paid for? Will consumers pay for that?
Josh Frydenberg:
Ultimately, consumers will pay for that...
Q: So prices are going to go up?
Josh Frydenberg:
Well...
Q: Again?
Josh Frydenberg:
Well, $50m spread across the Australian consumer base is not a lot of money in the scheme of things.
Continuing with Josh Frydenberg on the ABC.
Q: The prime minister told the parliament that you and he were in discussions with AGL about keeping Liddell operating and then Andy Vesey tweeted that they were committed to the closure in 2022. “Keeping coal plants open will not deliver the reliable and affordable energy our customers need.” That’s Andy Vesey, chief executive of AGL. How are the negotiations going exactly?
Josh Frydenberg:
Andy Vesey has made it clear to us that he’s prepared to sell to a responsible party. That’s why we’ll have discussions with them on Monday and no doubt those discussions will be ongoing, because what we want to see is reliable and affordable power.
Fran Kelly on Radio National tries to push Frydenberg in the direction of substance, but then the energy minister transforms into a small puff of smoke.
Q: I’m trying to get clear on the state of play. So AGL said it will talk to the government will selling Liddell to another operator who would keep it open beyond 2022. Have you found a responsible party, as the prime minister puts it? And how much will the government it have to pay to subsidise this responsible party to take on Liddell and keep it operating?
Josh Frydenberg:
Well, it’s too early to get into discussions publicly about the cost implications or price implications.
Today, we are all reaching out to AGL.
Troll, meet diplomat
The energy minister Josh Frydenberg was asked on the ABC about Matt Canavan’s new supporting role as chief AGL troll.
Q: So the government is in talks with Liddell over the coal-fired power station. Is your colleague, Matt Canavan helping? He’s called AGL “the biggest hypocrites walking around at the moment” basically because they’re not helping you out by keeping coal-fired power at Liddell operating when it’s slated for closure.
Josh Frydenberg:
All colleagues are valued and Matt Canavan is a good friend and has been a good Cabinet colleague.
Q: Is he right about AGL? Are they the biggest hypocrites walking around at the moment?
Josh Frydenberg:
He’s making the obvious point which is that AGL still has a number of coal-fired assets that they own, and that this decision to close Liddell in 2022 will, according to Aemo, have an implication for the stability of the energy system.
That’s why the prime minister, whose first responsibility is to Australian families and Australian businesses, has reached out to AGL to have discussions about them about keeping that power plant going for at least another five years.
(Troll + diplomat = everything is awesome.)
I particularly like the reaching out.
Turnbull versus the energy chief, and coal #feelings
Good morning good people of live blogs and welcome to Wednesday in Canberra, where the current temperature is bracing, and the pace brisk.
There are a number of things on the go but I want to start this morning with energy, and the game of chess between the Turnbull government and the energy company AGL over the future of the Liddell power station.
This morning, the government has released a new assessment from the Australian Energy Market Operator which says three things.
- It says Australia needs a strategic reserve of off-market dispatchable energy to deal with emergencies, like heatwaves and storms.
- The reserve is necessary to plug emerging gaps in the system once old coal fired power stations exit the system.
- It says once the Liddell power station leaves the system, the national electricity market will need a gigawatt of power to replace that capacity.
As soon as that report landed, the prime minister confirmed the government was in talks with AGL over the future of the Liddell power plant. Malcolm Turnbull said he wanted the power plant to remain open for another five years.
Unfortunately for the prime minister, the chief executive of AGL, Andy Vesey, went public with a different version of events.
.@TonyAbbottMHR We're getting out of coal. We committed to the closure of the Liddell power station in 2022, the end of its operating life.
— Andy Vesey (@AndyVesey_AGL) September 5, 2017
Oops.
Given Vesey wasn’t exactly on message, Turnbull then went out a bit later in the evening to tell reporters what the AGL boss was (apparently) saying in private. The prime minister told reporters AGL was happy to sell Liddell, and that’s what the discussion was actually about: someone buying Liddell and keeping it operating for five years after 2022.
Turnbull told reporters on Wednesday night it was better if a private sector operator bought the ageing plant, but he also didn’t rule out the government buying the plant if push came to shove. (Yipee, say taxpayers everywhere).
The government will meet with Vesey next Monday to thrash all this out.
While the government is trying to thread a needle on Liddell, the former resources minister Matt Canavan has bobbed up with #feelings about AGL. His #feelings could have been predicted, given Canavan is a big fan of coal fired power.
Naughty, naughty, AGL, said Canavan, all that virtue signalling on coal.
Matt Canavan:
AGL should be operating with a modicum of the national interest in mind, not just trying to maximise their profits.
If Andy Vesey wants to ease his moral guilt about producing coal, he’s welcomed to sell coal-fired power stations at book value — indeed I was talking to some investors tonight who would happily buy his whole coal-fired power fleet at book value.
ICYMI, the trolling of AGL continued on social media.
Hay @AndyVesey_AGL if you want out of coal sell your coal power stations for book value and ease your moral guilt!
— Matthew Canavan (@mattjcan) September 5, 2017
Enormously helpful.
So you can see with all these component parts on the energy story, we are really cooking with gas. (Sorry, that was truly unforgivable.)
Quick housekeeping before we march on. The comments thread is now open for your business. You can talk throughout the day to Mr Bowers and to me on the twits @murpharoo and @mpbowers We even talk back. You can also have a chat on my Facebook forum if you prefer the off platform experience. If you want to follow Magic Mike on Instagram, you can do that here.
Switch on your generators, fire up your solar panels, strap on your body armour, here comes Wednesday.
